Who vs. Whom

Tom Cruise is the star of the Movie Top Gun.

There is an old rule of English grammar:

• Who refers to the subject of a clause.
• Whom refers to an object.

Study the following examples:

• I saw Tom Cruise, who is a celebrity.
• I saw Tom Cruise, whom I love.

In the first example, who is the subject of the adjective clause:

main clause			subordinate adjective clause
I saw Tom Cruise,			who is a celebrity
S I	V saw	O Tom Cruise	S Tom Cruise	= is	C a celebrity

In the second example, whom is the object of the verb "love".

main clause			subordinate adjective clause
I saw Tom Cruise,			whom I love.
S I	V saw	O Tom Cruise	O Tom Cruise	S I	V I love

Here are a few more examples:

Who as the Subject of a Relative Clause

• This is the man who sang the national anthem.
• This is the man [the man] sang the national anthem.

• The wolf ate the child who was hiding in the cave.
• The wolf ate the child [the child] was hiding in the cave.

Whom as the Object of a Relative Clause

• This is the woman whom George hired.
• This is the woman [the woman] George hired.
• This is the woman. (George hired the woman).


• She avoided Jim, whom she had kissed at the party.
• She avoided Jim, [Jim] she had kissed at the party.
• She avoided Jim. (She had kissed Jim at the party).

Instructions for the Quiz

Identify the grammatical function of the relative pronoun.

Quiz